Pep Guardiola says £35million Ederson can help Manchester City score more… through his goal kicks

PEP GUARDIOLA arrived at Manchester City hailed as the high priest of the beautiful game.

The Catalan had built a Barcelona side the envy of the world — a team that set out to pass opponents to death and then stick the knife in for fun.

Pep Guardiola’s spell at Barcelona made him one of the most wanted managers in footballAFP – GettyThe Spaniard is now hoping to emulate his dominance at Man CityReuters

At Bayern Munich, ‘keeper Manuel Neuer’s skills with his feet made him the team’s 11th outfield player — and Guardiola reinvented the wheel all over again.

Pep turned up at the Etihad and promptly dumped Joe Hart because he did not feel the England keeper was good enough outside the box.

He persisted with Hart’s replacement, Chilean Claudio Bravo, despite a series of high-profile errors. No matter what happened, Guardiola refused to back down.

But when his Plan B for the new season was unveiled in Nashville on Saturday night, it was no surprise that Tottenham did not see it coming.

While Guardiola versions one and two were all about possession and precision, it appears one of his biggest weapons this time round will be a keeper who can launch it 75 yards on to a bottle top.

And the City boss is convinced his new £34.9million keeper Ederson will give opposing defenders nightmares this season — through his huge GOAL KICKS.

Ederson’s average goal kick is some 22 yards longer than Claudio Bravo’sEderson showcased his wide range of passing against TottenhamEPAPep Guardiola believes Ederson’s long kicks will cause problems next seasonReuters

Spurs, boasting the best defence in the Prem last season, were completely cut apart when the Brazilian’s enormous pinpoint delivery created a second-half chance for Sergio Aguero.

From his own six-yard box, the ball flew through the air and landed right beyond the Spurs back line and at Aguero’s feet.

The prolific Argentine was clean through — but for once his own radar was off and his effort came back off the post with Michel Vorm utterly beaten. Not so much tiki-taka nowadays then — more like tiki-whacka.

There is no more direct style of football than that.

Aguero latched onto a long goal kick by Ederson against SpursReutersMauricio Pochettino’s side were blown away by Man CityGetty Images – Getty

And that moment — towards the end of an impressive display by Manchester City in Nashville’s Nissan Stadium — certainly had Pep purring.

His team played some irresistible stuff with pace and purpose in what could have been a Tennessee honky-tonking for a Tottenham team that looked well off the pace.

But it was Ederson’s big hoof which really got the manager animated afterwards. And he knows from personal experience it will give rival bosses a serious headache.

Pep smiled: “Ederson has this quality, in the goal kicks when the opposition makes high pressing and it’s complicated.

“Now we have the chance to put the ball in the other box — and of course we have a little bit more space in the middle.

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“And he created a good chance for Sergio to score a goal.

“When I was at Bayern Munich, we played Benfica in the Champions League and he was there.

“When we tried to analyse them, we saw it four or five times and we organised a meeting to say, ‘Guys, what’s the matter? What is that?’.

“We tried to work about that because he has this quality to put the ball in the other box and it’s not offside.

“We spread out the opponents and we can have more space in the middle.”